ZE090110
ZENIT
The World Seen From Rome
Daily dispatch - January 10, 2009
LETTERS TO THE EDITORS
False Judge and Jury
Where to Look
Lending a Hand to the Press
Defending the Attacked
The Father's Reflection
Impressed by Benedict
Getting to Know Joseph
A comment on: Prenatal Testing: Worthwhile or Wrong?
A little over eight years ago, my niece heard these words from a woman, "I will not bring this child into the world." The woman was not an expectant mother, she was my niece's OB/GYN. At five months into her pregnancy, an ultrasound revealed my niece's child had no apparent brain matter. A subsequent ultrasound revealed that her son had an encephelocele and that the build up of spinal fluid had squished his brain to the top of his head making the brain itself undetectable on a regular ultrasound. Many experts advised termination of the pregnancy.
My niece and her husband decided to bring their little boy into the world even if it meant just a few precious moments with their little son or if it meant a lifetime of constant care. They had to find a neonatologist, a new delivery doctor and even a new pediatrician who would agree to care for their son with his special needs. Three months later, my niece gave birth to her second child. He was taken that week into surgery where they implanted a VP shunt to drain the excess spinal fluid to allow room for his brain. They were told their son probably would not see, hear, talk or walk.
Today, this young boy attends second grade, is preparing to make his first communion, sees and comments on the beauty that surrounds him, asks his grandma to play the piano for him, is surprisingly articulate and is able to walk. While he has occasional seizures, he is a thriving little person deserving of care. Ultimately, he is a child of God, deserving of the special place in this world that God intended for him.
I guess my point is, prenatal testing is very worthwhile when it helps to prepare doctors and parents to help the child in need of help, but it can be very harmful and seductive when "experts" become the judge and jury of such a child and use it as a means to determine which children should live and which children they refuse to bring into the world.
Thanks and God bless you!
Catherine Lemek
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A comment on: Misreporting Religion
Thank you, Father Flynn, for this long over-due article. I find most secular religion news on TV or in newspapers and magazines to be "stand up comedy"!
When I was in college, one of my instructors gave us a valuable piece of advice: "you don't have to know all the answers, but you do have to know where to look to find them!" I would give the secular media the same advice. If they don't want "sour-puss religionists" in their offices, fine; but for heaven's sake, teach reporters to develop a network of religious contacts who can "translate" accurately!
Carol Luscomb
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A comment on: Misreporting Religion
There is no doubt that many secular reporters and editors are ignorant of religion in general and Catholicism in particular. One of the best examples was on the front page of the New York Times during Pope John Paul II's lying-in-state.
It referred to his pastoral staff as a "crow's ear" rather than a crosier.
Amy Wellborn's suggestion that editors see that reporters get better education on religion seems to assume that editors know such an education is to be found. They haven't a clue, and generally speaking, they have many other things to worry about that seem more pressing. Most journalism schools may have some courses on specialty reporting, but precious few, if any, offer anything on religion reporting. Newspapers rely on reporters to have general reporting and feature writing experience and assign them where they deem them most needed.
When I began my 23 years as religion writer for the San Antonio Express-News in September 1984, I was told only, "do the best you can." Actually, I did rather well, mostly because I am a lifelong Catholic interested in religion and knowledgeable about many faiths and denominations. But I also did a lot of on-the-job learning, which is pretty much the rule in the business. This doesn't excuse shoddy reporting or indifference to standards of objectivity, and it doesn't hold much promise of improvement in the foreseeable future.
But I went into the religion beat with good will and a desire for balance and fairness. I soon discovered that Baptists and Catholics widely felt the news media, if not actively out to embarrass people of faith, at the very least didn't care much about whether they got it right.
I actually received a statewide award from the Baptist General Convention of Texas in 1989 for the balance and fairness of my coverage of religion in San Antonio (after the Southern Baptist Convention had met here in 1988), but in the meantime, I learned that the Baptists didn't just complain about bad reporting, they cheerfully and consistently showed positive interest in helping reporters. They went to great lengths to help non-Baptist reporters covering their conventions to understand the significance of actions taken and to report them accurately by sharing articles written by the staff reporters of the Baptist Press and Associated Baptist Press on the same events. That helped a lot of reporters improve their understanding of the Baptist milieu. I rarely saw anything like this from the Catholic bishops' media people or their counterparts in other national denominational communications offices.
J. Michael Parker
Director of Communications
Oblate School of Theology
(also freelance reporter for Today's Catholic, the newspaper of the Archdiocese of San Antonio)
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A response to: Misreporting Religion
This is an excellent article on religion in the media, and I see this type of misreporting quite a lot in California, but it's not just ignorance or biased news reporters; there's also the problem of liberalism.
TIME magazine, every year, amazes me on how anti-Catholic and liberal its articles are. I remember one article that tried to show as fact that Saint Augustine of Hippo had invented original sin and changed the Church. The article, however, relied on biased sources, a skewed understanding of Church history, and just flat-out lies and misconceptions.
FOX News, reporting on the death of Pope John Paul II, had selected liberal callers to call in and say who they believed would be the next Pope. All of them said the next Pope would change the Church for the better, one caller even going so far as to declare that the next Pope would allow abortions.
The liberalism in the media is not just caused by biased views of the religions, ignorance, and "frameworks" with how to report on religion, but is also caused by pride and poor education; pride in that the individual believes his understanding of a religion is the truth and will not seek out the truth, or at least not recognize the truth; poor education in that the individual has received, whether from teachers, parents, entertainers, authoritative figures, or bad examples of believers, a misconception of religion.
Entertainment and the media is pushing, with humor and "facts" a false notion of the world's religions. Eddie Izzard, a well-known comedian, jokes about how Saint Paul wrote a letter to the entire City of Corinth, and then, in another stand-up routine, he says Pope Pius approved of Nazism and did nothing to stop the Holocaust. And that's just one example of one entertainer!
If we want to help the media, though, we have to show good example, pray for the conversion of sinners, preach the Gospel, and defend the faith when it is attacked or misconceived. It is no easy task, to be sure, but with God nothing is impossible; through him, with him, and in him we can do all things, bear all things, believe all things, and hope for all things.
Nick Childers
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A response to: Pope's Christmas Eve Homily
I praise God for giving us a Pope Benedict who can explain to us theological insights with clarity. I pray that more and more people, believers and unbelievers alike, open their hearts to the words of the Vicar of Christ. I personally look at Pope Benedict as a reflection of the loving Father. Let us pray that his influence reach every corner of the Earth.
Bing Martinez
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A response to: Benedict XVI's Christmas Message
Thanks for making the text of the Pope's Christmas sermon available to me this Christmas Morning in New York ... here sitting at my computer. What a wonder! And I am always impressed by Benedict's words and writings. He is most clear and relevant and current. All sermons should be like that. Thanks again.
Geoff Proud
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A response to: Zooming in on Joseph
Thank you for this article, "Zooming in on Joseph." You have given me some more insights into this wonderful person. As one of my patron saints, I try to know him and live with him more (especially lately). Making him more real as a father who taught Jesus how to be a man and who took seriously the role of "a reflection of God the Father" are very helpful insights.
Mary Jo Poole
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